Tigerville, S.C. – North Greenville scored its second Conference Carolinas win of the season on Saturday with a 3-2 (25-21 / 25-22 / 24-26 / 22-25 / 15-12) win over Lees-McRae.

The Basics

Score: NGU – 3 Lees-McRae – 2

Location: Tigerville, South Carolina

Records: NGU – 5-5 (2-1) / Lees-McRae – 0-7 (0-2)

How it Happened

The game was played evenly throughout the day but North Greenville found ways to win against the visiting Bobcats. The Crusaders led 18-10 in the first set only to see the lead dwindle to just three after a Lees-McRae kill made it 18-15.

The Crusaders rallied though at the end of the first frame, but not before the Bobcats cut the North Greenville lead to 24-21. The Crusaders got the final kill from senior Kenzie Pierce giving NGU a 1-0 set lead.

The Crusaders had to rally once again in the second frame, this time having to come from behind. A 15-13 lead for the Bobcats was cut to just one after a Rachel Miller kill before Brittany Tepedino evened it at 15 with a kill of her own a point later.

NGU then grabbed the upper hand on service aces from Pierce and Johna Robbins with Miller Kill sandwiched between the two. The Crusaders would lead late but Lees-McRae kept scrapping and evened the score at 22. Two Bobcat errors and a kill from Pierce, once again late in the match would earn NGU the 2-0 lead in the set count.

Neither team was able to gain much control in the third frame. The Crusaders led by two late in the match but four straight would earn the Bobcats a 20-18 advantage. NGU would put two on the board to tie it but the Bobcats answered with a pair on a kill and an NGU attack error to take a 22-20 lead.

North Greenville came out of the timeout and immediately evened the score using a kill from Samantha Hebb and an attack error from LMC. The Crusaders would move the score to 24-23 but the Bobcats scored three straight using three NGU errors to force a game four.

The Crusaders gained quick control in the opening minutes of the fourth frame, jumping out to a 9-5 lead, forcing an LMC timeout. The lead wouldn’t last though as Lees-McRae fought back once again as three consecutive points including two kills from Kaci Thornton evened the score at 18-18.

Lees-McRae would go on to take the lead and score eight of the next 11-points to force a fifth set with the Crusaders.

The Crusaders trailed 5-1 in the fifth set before Johna Robbins evened the score at 6-6 with an ace to the back corner. The Crusaders would go on to take the next point and lead on a kill from Tepedino to take a 7-6 advantage.

The Crusaders fought back late in the match with back to back kills from Kenzie Pierce to take a 13-10 lead. Pierce would put the game away on her last chance, capitalizing on Miller’s 52nd kill of the game.

The Good Guys

Pierce finished the game with 20-kills and just three errors. Samantha Hebb also finished with 18-kills while Katie McManaway finished with 11.

Rachel Miller led the Crusaders with 11-digs to go along with six kills. Johna Robbins led the team with 27-digs.

Robbins also led the Crusaders with four service aces.

The Other Team

Caitlyn Smirne led the Bobcats with 13-kills while Kaci Thornton finished with 12 for Lees-McRae

Courtney Weathersbee led the Bobcats with 37-assists.

Thornton led the team with 15-digs.

Next Time Out

The Crusaders open up a six-game road stretch on September 22nd against Barton College in Wilson, N.C. First, serve is scheduled for 7 pm.